Elections
All 203 of the state’s House seats were on the ballot this year. With new legislative districts and a number of GOP incumbents not seeking reelection, Democrats succeeded in taking over the majority.
So far, 44 out of the 75 Democratic women who ran in the commonwealth have won their respective elections. The only race that’s still to be called as of this writing featuring a female Democrat is between Democrat Melissa Cerrato and incumbent Republican Todd Stephens in the 151st House district.
Control of the two chambers of Congress will come down to mail ballots that are still being counted in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon—and possibly a December Senate run-off election in Georgia.
While Mastriano lost the Pennsylvania governor’s race to Democrat Josh Shapiro by double digits, the fact that a man who openly embraced election denialism, gun fetishism, racism, and antisemitism was the Republican nominee at all is disturbing and evidence of a massive sea change in both Pennsylvania and American politics.
Key victories in Western Pennsylvania, where Summer Lee will become the first Black woman to represent the commonwealth in Congress and Chris DeLuzio flipped a Republican seat, will give Pennsylvania Dems a 9-8 edge in the US House.
A contentious election season comes to a close with the former mayor of Braddock defeating celebrity surgeon Dr. Oz.
The Pennsylvania governor’s race was one of the highest-profile contests in the country—in part because the race served to highlight just how extreme the Republican Party has become.